Letters to the editor

By: JAMIE MOCK, Staff Writer

Published 6:00 pm, Tuesday, March 4, 2003

Think tank safety, West U mommies

Dear Editor:

Re: Dee Sellers Feb. 26 letter (West U Mommies), please read Time magazines Feb. 24 issue, pages 34 through 42, for more tank information. You may not know tanks have a higher incidence of rollover and are over twice as likely to kill an occupant in a rollover as a car. Do you care that tanks are two to three times more likely to kill occupants of another car in a collision than one involving a large car. Sources?? NHTSA, IIHS and EPA.

No, Ms. Mommie, those ticketed Mommies were not crossing at a location that has had a crossing guard for six-plus years. WUPD confirmed this by telephone. The crossing guard works the University Boulevard intersection with Edloe and across University at the same point. So much for your emotional, nonfactual letter

Jaywalking is what it says crossing a street at a point between intersections at each end of the block. ##M:(full story)##

Do you not know Chief Begley has had a tremendous positive effect on our WUPD? Ask the council members or the mayor. If you regularly read our local papers, you would see the chief had almost unanimous support from department staff when his transgression was made public. Sherman Yehl, past city manager, exercised excellent judgment and faith allowing Chief Begley to retain his position. You seem unfamiliar with the job performance of some past West U police chiefs!

If I had grammar school age children, they would be well trained and mature enough to walk the short typical distance to West U Elementary or, if older, ride their bikes. The West U Mommies mentality and their tanks are on display each weekday a virtual comedy, except it is anything but humorous.

I assume your last comment is a spoof? My wife, a graduate engineer with an MBA, will confirm I am anything but chauvinistic probably because I was raised primarily by my single-parent mother.